Koku-365 masu’s
In Japan I was in Arita, in a ceramic residency. This city is the most important place in Japan for the manufacture of porcelain. There I was introduced to the concept of Masu, the means of payment from the Edo period (1603–1868) with which a Samurai paid his subjects by means of a wooden container containing the amount of rice for a day. So per year you needed 365 Masus that is called a Koku.
- Project:
- Let’s Talk About Rice
365 porcelain containers
The prestige of a Samurai was measured by the number of Kokus he provided, or the number of subjects he fed. I came up with a way to combine this old object with Arita’s porcelain, and made 365 porcelain containers, a Koku. In some cases I mixed the porcelain with rice, connecting these two typically Japanese elements. During the exhibition in Japan, visitors were allowed to exchange their old wooden masu for a porcelain one.
During the exhibition in Japan, visitors were allowed to exchange their old wooden masu for a porcelain one.